SIR, – From a distance, I have been following the arguments for and against the replacement of Union Terrace Gardens.
It seems to me that there is a fear that anything new will be worse than what Aberdeen has. This fear is no doubt due to a number of “improvements” made to the city over the past 60 years which have resulted in eyesores and the decline of Union Street. That this experience is shared the length and breadth of our country is no comfort.
However, I would suggest that such philanthropic proposals – as opposed to commercial ones – over the last century have been beneficial to hundreds of communities.
The most significant, yet least publicised, example in Scotland is in Paisley where a group of local people secretly bought up all the properties in three streets around the abbey in the early part of the last century and then gifted them to the corporation, who then created a magnificent parkland setting for Scotland’s most impressive church.
If people can separate the philanthropic from the aggressive, commercially-driven projects, then surely an improvement to Aberdeen on par with that achieved in Paisley should be possible.
Graeme McCormick,
Redhouse Cottage,
Arden.
SIR, – I recently joined the beach leisure centre to use the gym and was told they cater to all ages and all segments of society, young and old. Although I enjoy the gym, the music they play – if you can call it music – is very loud and totally unsuitable for the clientele who use the gym in the mornings when I go. They have members from their 20s to 70s using the gym, but instead of a wide variety of music, what they play is manufacture music created for 16-year-olds. No tune, no melody, nothing but a noise.
I bought an mp3 player and headphones to try to listen to something more suitable, but often the volume from the gym speakers is so loud I can’t hear the mp3 player.
I have asked them to turn it down a couple of times, which they’ve done for about an hour and then turned it full up again.
They need to get feedback from the members about what they like and don’t like and how to improve the services at the centre, but they never ask anyone so how can they learn?
I believe a trust is taking over the running of the complex so I can only hope that they do a better job.
Robert Benzies,
Farquhar Road,
Aberdeen.
SIR, – George Osborne, the Tory shadow chancellor, said in a speech on Sunday, February 28, that Gordon Brown had created boom and bust. George was 50% wrong. Brown has in no way created a boom. Brown bristled with pride when he entered No 11 that he would be following the Tories’ government spending plans for a couple of years. He even out-bristled himself in his second or third budget that he had reduced the national debt by a considerable sum that year. Indeed, Gordon said he would see the debt being wiped out altogether if things carried on as they had done.
Sadly for us British, it was Gordon who changed course by beginning to borrow, which raised exponentially as the years went on. He covered up the decline in living standards by government debt and cheap personal debt that kidded the general public that life was getting better.
So, Gordon only created the illusion of boom as he was creating the reality of our greatest bust – in peace time and in living memory.
In 13 years in government, Gordon Brown has created absolutely nothing that the people, the taxpayers of Britain, can take heart from.
Eric R S Davidson,
Isengard,
Bruce Street,
Macduff.
SIR, – Why is it clear to almost everyone except Network Rail that Highland open level crossings are unsafe?
It does not really matter if accidents are due to people making mistakes or ignoring signals (and Mr Coucher, the chief executive, admits that at least 5% may be due to the other things) , the fact is that people are being seriously injured, killed or suffering near-misses because barriers are not in place.
The constant bleat from the company over the years is that open crossings are safe – presumably they would also state that black is white.
Perhaps it is time that our parliament in Holyrood took a more active interest in the problem.
Alastair McCall,
Old Evanton Road,
Dingwall.
SIR, – Moments after reading the comments in the letters section about the new speed bumps on the otherwise potholed Pitfodels Station Road, (Letters page, Press and Journal, March 11) I began opening my mail, including my council tax bill.
In the letter, there was a very interesting leaflet entitled ‘Annual Performance Report 2008/2009’ which boasts, among other things, about the council’s ability to repair 78% of potholes within two working days, with the aim to make it 90% in that time.
Maybe more money spent on actually repairing the roads instead of telling us how well they are doing would stand the council in better stead.
John Daniels,
Northcote Avenue,
Aberdeen.
SIR, – Belated congratulations on your exclusive article on the power output of wind turbines (Press and Journal, March 5). The debate on the variability of wind power has raged for years. Now at last we have a precious fact. On one recent occasion, the output of the 40% windfarms in Scotland covered by the Caitness Windfarms Information Forum survey was only 3MW.
Your article tells us that the installed capacity of all onshore windfarms in Scotland is 1800MW, so 40% would be 720MW.
I have seen protagonists in this debate quote that actual output should be reckoned at 30% of installed capacity. Would I be right in my guess that this 70% cut is to allow for times when there is not enough wind, or too much wind, to arrive at an estimate of the average output over an extended period. That would be around 216MW expected average output.
What I would most like to know is the average output over the three months – December, January and February – of the windfarms covered in this survey. If the available data does not provide this information, could we be told the 10 lowest output figures, and the 10 highest figures over this period? We would then know the range of output over this past winter as a factual basis for this important debate.
John Smart,
Kinneddar Street,
Lossiemouth.